Economic and performance evaluation of optimal diesel-biodiesel-ethanol blends | |
| Author | Krishna, Sachin Muralee |
| Call Number | AIT Thesis no.ET-16-03 |
| Subject(s) | Diesel fuels--Additives--Evaluation Biodiesel fuels--Additives--Evaluation Ethanol fuels--Additives--Evaluation |
| Note | A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Engineering in Energy |
| Publisher | Asian Institute of Technology |
| Abstract | The world of today is toiling hard to solve the energy related issues, for example, energy deficiency, supply security, economy, and energy management etc. A great potential lies in the hand of automotive engineers and scientists to fulfil inhabitants insatiable energy needs, comfort as well as prospecting mother earth’s atmosphere.one prominent. One only prominent solution for sustainable development is use of alternate fuels in substitute for fossil fuels. Biofuels and ethanol are two prominent alternate fuels currently under development. This study focused on effective use biofuels for reducing the primary energy consumption in Thailand. As biodiesel or ethanol cannot be directly used as fossil fuel substitute to use in existing diesel engine without modification, a generalized methodology for finding the optimal blend ratio for diesel-biodiesel-ethanol (DBE) ternary fuel for automobiles without any engine modification. A nonlinear optimization model is developed in this work to investigate DBE blending process. The model establishes an ideal blend ratio for by improving the energy content (LHV) of fuel while meeting multiple fuel property criteria such as kinematic viscosity, density, cetane number and sulfur content. The stability and fuel properties of the proposed fuel blends are experimentally analyzed. The nine main fuel properties, density, cloud point, pour point, acid value, water content, calorific value, kinematic viscosity, oxidations stability and copper corrosion are tested according to their ASTM test methods. The DBE blended fuel characteristics such as stability and the fuel properties are experimentally analyzed. The fuel bends are analyzed with both hydrous and anhydrous ethanol. The DBE blends with high cetane number and ethanol content ranging from 5% to 10%, are selected for performance and emission characteristics evaluation. The engine performance parameter Brake thermal Efficiency (BTE), brake fuel specific consumption (BSFC), system efficiency (η) and exhaust temperature are measured and compared with commercial diesel to evaluate the fuel quality and its performance in engine. Similarly, the engine emissions carbon monoxide (CO), Carbon dioxide (CO2) and oxides of nitrogen (NOx) emission from the test engine are estimated. Finally, the economic impacts of DBE blends in Thailand is investigated by calculating the net cost of the fuel. The social and economic benefits of fossil fuel consumption avoided, biofuel production cost incurred and GHG emission reduced while introducing the DBE ternary fuel in Thailand were simultaneously evaluated in this study for evaluating net benefits from replacing regular diesel with DBE blends. |
| Year | 2016 |
| Type | Thesis |
| School | School of Environment, Resources, and Development (SERD) |
| Department | Department of Energy and Climate Change (Former title: Department of Energy, Environment, and Climate Change (DEECC)) |
| Academic Program/FoS | Energy Technology (ET) |
| Chairperson(s) | Salam, Abdul P.; |
| Examination Committee(s) | Kumar, Sivanappan;Singh, Jai Govind;Manida Tongroon; |
| Scholarship Donor(s) | Asian Institute of Technology Fellowship; |
| Degree | Thesis (M.Eng.) - Asian Institute of Technology, 2016 |